The next few days passed quietly, except for the new siege weapon crews in training. Those became a proper spectacle for the locals who did not hold back with good advice and good natured teasing. Considering the defenses of the town it was to be expected that everyone and their grandmother already were experts in setting up and handling a trebuchet. At least it seemed like that at times. The town itself was pretty busy as well. The new giant sized siege weapons we had ordered wouldn't build themselves either after all.

We could hear the sound of axes and falling trees from the hills all around us. Our weapons would be built from well dried wood. Everything else would have been just silly but the towns stocks had to be replenished anyway after such a big construction project. I ordered regular weapon and formation drills as well, to keep my men and women, or at least those not still recovering from their injuries, busy.

At the same time reinforcements started trickling in as well. They were not the specialists I had sent for, not yet anyway, but rather young people from the surrounding settlements, or even those a little further away, who were hoping to join up with a mercenary company or a banner after the recent big battle. I shook my head as I thought about that again. Most of them were my age. Some might even be older than me. Why was I calling them young, even if just in my mind?

Well, I wouldn't complain. They helped flush out or companies again after the losses we had suffered. Or at least some of them anyway. Tortho had the easiest time increasing the numbers of the Company of the Cloak. The people from around here did not use the woods for logging alone after all. He had a chance to welcome quite a few new faces to the ranks of his rangers and scouts and he was quite busy properly integrating them.

More harpies had flocked towards Quu'za as well and she was training them alongside the darkelf master of scouts when we didn't have them run messages. She was building quite a reputation among her people as well. That was of great interest not only to me but others as well. Could this be a chance to integrate the harpies a little more in our society as a whole?

Either way, I suspected that both rangers, scouts and harpies would be crucial again to my campaign. As a matter of fact they would probably depart our camp here well before the others to scout and secure our route into enemy territory once more. They would be screening our main column on the march as well again. Come to think of it, securing our camp during the actual siege probably would be their job as well.

The other company captains had a harder time though. Arngard had reforged some of the smaller infantry companies into a new larger one, the Iron Hedgehog, under his command. He found plenty of recruits as well, but integrating them into a pike formation intended to stand in the line of battle was a lot harder. Their training included numerous mock charges by Tora'pheer and her Four horned Lancers as well. After all the last thing you wanted in an infantry formation like that was someone who would break and run if things got serious.

Tora on the other hand had the hardest time bringing her company back up to strength. Neither trained cavalry mounts nor the women trained to ride them into battle grew on trees after all. It didn't help either, that they had suffered the most serious losses during the battle at the gap. I feared that they would remain under strength despite their best efforts. What made things worse was that we probably would need them as a quick reaction force should enemy reinforcements try to break our siege.

The Wall Breakers were still waiting for the return of their couriers and recruiters as well but they hadn't suffered as badly and Yath'zur was quite confident that he would be able to gather the reinforcements he needed to properly lay siege to a dwarven fortress city.

The real surprise awaited me as I returned to the tent I shared with my sister after making my rounds through the camp and the exercise fields. The first figure I recognized quite a bit before I actually reached the tent. It was Eld'tide. For a moment I worried that something might have happened at the mountain pass fort but she didn't look hurt or worried. She was not alone either. There were several young humans with her, and judging by their fair skin they were from the land to the east of the mountains, the lands ruled by the Council of Kings.

I already heard the news that some of them moved over the mountains, to live among my people rather than their own. I hadn't expected to see any of them here though. They looked a little nervous but none of them flinched back, or at least not much, as I approached. I put on a friendly smile to ease their mind and more importantly to great my gorgon childhood friend. I pulled her into a hug. “Eld'tide what brings you here?”

She patted my back as I hugged her, both with her hand as well as a thick tendril of her long hair. She grinned at me impishly as we separated again. “I just needed a change of scenery. That mountain pass is terribly dreary.” Her tone became more serious after that. “I brought some people from back home as well. Families who wanted to take this chance to either see their kin or mourn them. I brought some volunteers for your own banner as well.” The group of young humans, mostly young women as I realized now, straightened up a little at these words.

As I turned to face the group, one of them stepped forward. It was one of the older girls, possibly the oldest one, the only one I would actually call a young woman without hesitation. She bowed formally. “Lady Keza, please allow me to speak for our group.”

She sounded pretty formal. Her eastern accent was still pretty noticeable as well. I was a little surprised that she would speak for the others though. It was not common among the pale humans from the east to let women speak for men of equal standing and there were some boys among the group. Was it because they were younger still? I nodded anyway and gestured for her to continue as something else occurred to me, prompting me to speak up before she could. “Your name?”

My question made her fidget slightly but she answered anyway. “Leumina, my lady.”

I nodded and gestured for her to continue again. At the same time I took the chance to get a better look at her and her companions. They were dressed well enough but they didn't exactly look like nobles. No, the impression I got was that they were children of well of, and thus probably free farmers. Leumina's hands for one certainly looked like she was used to hard work. She, like the others, looked well fed as well, unlike many of the townspeople from Gothol'gul I had seen.

She fidgeted a little as I scrutinized her but managed to gather the courage to speak up again anyway. “My lady, we are still new to the lands you rule. Thus, please forgive me if I am not yet intimately familiar with all of the local customs.” She cleared her throat once before continuing. “Where we were born it was custom for free families to send one armed man or sometimes more, with horse and geared for war, to follow our lords banner in times of war. I have learned that it is quite similar here.”

She wasn't wrong. Yet my heart was growing heavy, filling with dread, as I suspected in which direction this would go. I didn't speak up though and let her carry on instead.

The young woman took a deep breath before concluding her little address. “Thus, my lady, we would like to pledge our self to your service.”

For a moment there was only silence. Yes, that was pretty much what I had expected. I tried my best to recall the king's laws regarding this issue but try as I might I could not recall anything that allow me, and them, to get out of this the easy way. Finally I nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I accept your services … but I can't help but wonder if you might be able serve me better elsewhere.”

One of the young boys with the group seemed to take insult at my suggestion and some of the others looked a little embarrassed as well although they managed to hide it better. That as well was an understandable reaction. I could imagine that not too long ago I might have reacted in a similar way. Thus I raised a hand to stall any protest. “You are still quite young, aren't you?”

Most of them nodded. There was no use denying the fact after all.

I kept going. “Many of your fathers, or older siblings probably followed the Council of Kings into these recent ill fated battles, heeding their call to arms.”

Again I earned a round of nods and several of them looked quite uncomfortable. It seemed like some of them even could use a good hug at the very least, after this reminder. Some, if not all of them, had probably lost someone after all.

I was not done yet though. “Your mothers didn't offer their services in your stead either. Probably because you have younger siblings that still need their care.” Younger siblings that needed a mother's hand even more than any of you. That was the thought I left unvoiced.

I rose again, reaffirming my resolve. “I will accept your services but I will send most of you back home. It is not a custom of ours to send children to wage war. You will shore up our defenses at home and take this chance to learn, train, prosper and grow to make sure you are ready to answer my call to arms another day.”